This invention relates to substrates that are useful with inkjet printers and inks, articles made from the substrate and methods of making the same. More specifically, the invention relates to substrates that comprise a polymeric core with an inkjet coating on one surface and a metallized layer on the opposite surface.
It is often desirable to have metallic effects when printing. Metallic effects are obtained using metallic inks or embossing techniques. These methods require special equipment and are expensive. It would be desirable to have a means for obtaining metallic effects with standard office or residential printers.
Inkjet printers have become popular for both commercial and residential uses. These printers are relatively low cost and readily available. These printers are used in many areas of application. Ink-jet technology utilizes a liquid based delivery system in which the ink pigments or dyes are delivered to a substrate together with a liquid. The substrate usually has a topcoat that contains at least one absorbent material to remove the liquid of the ink-jet ink. The conventional ink-jet printing technology is based on liquid based inks, such as water, solvent, or oil based inks. Because of the delivery system, metallic inks are not usable with inkjet printers. Without the metallic pigments, special printing effects are not possible with current inkjet printing systems. The ink of the inkjet printing system contains dyes that produce the colors. The dyes have a flat matte character when printed onto substrates like paper or cardstock.
It would be desirable to produce metallic printing effects with inkjet printers. The increasing use of personal computers for preparing greeting cards, buttons and other items has lead to a need to produce special metallic printing effects with standard inkjet printing technology.
This invention relates to an inkjet substrate comprising a polymeric core having a first and second surface, an inkjet coating on the first surface and a metallized layer covering at least a portion of the second surface. The invention also relates to support substrates that are adhered to the inkjet substrate. Additionally the invention relates to methods of making the inkjet substrate and methods of using the same.
The present invention provides a metallic appearance to ordinary inkjet printing to provide unique and special print effects. These substrates are useful for printing paper substrates, greeting cards, and novelties, such as buttons and magnets, binders, labels, index products, etc.